Congrats Siena! What wonderful news! Looks like we'll both be having baby girls this June!

I had my 18 week scan last week too. We already knew it was a girl and so we were just hoping to see some good views of the baby. She yawned while we were having the ultrasound and also appeared to give us a thumbs-up. So cute. She also has the same nose as DD!

We also found out that I have a low-lying placenta and that the umbilical cord only has 2 blood vessels instead of 3. Nothing to be too freaked out about at this point I guess. But there is a risk of having a smaller baby. I am trying not to worry too much about it. I'll have lots more ultrasounds to track her growth. DD (now 2.5) was premature and weighed only 4 lbs 9oz. So I just keep telling myself that if this baby is just small, we can deal with that as long as everything else is healthy.

Congrats on your baby girl, Siena! Little girl clothes are just so cute.

My DH and I went to a "meet the doulas" event at my yoga studio over the weekend, and interviewed 5 or 6 doulas. We both loved one in particular, so we're in the process of hiring her. I am really excited about her -- I think she'll be a great support to both of us during labor. And I thought doulas in my area cost about $1,000, but she's only $550 (still expensive, but it feels like a bargain after preparing to spend $1,000). In other news, I go for my 1-hour glucose test next week and I meet my new midwife. I am really looking forward to meeting her.

Hope all is well with everyone else. It's been quiet around here lately!

I'm at 27 weeks now and today I busted out my old friend, Snoogle. I'm doing well except for a bad, bad cold, and I'm hoping that will help me sleep.

In other news, I had a regular doctor appointment last week and the NP said that the specialist we're seeing for continued follow up wrote in the notes that I will be having extra u/s EVERY WEEK after 30 weeks. My regular OB also wants weekly non-stress tests for the last 4 or 6 weeks since I'm over 35 -- When am I going to work?? Anyway, it is what it is, but I clearly should have asked for more info when he recommended they be "more frequent". The first of the "more frequent" ones is this Friday, so I'll get everything nailed down then.

I just ordered a couple of used prenatal Pilates DVDs and I'm really excited! I wasn't successful at finding a local class, but I think this will fit my schedule better anyway.

Med, that's more appointments than my 35+ yo friend who was pg with triplets. She didn't have one stress test (what's a non-stress test?) that I'm aware of, and she talked to me all the time about what was going on. She did have u/s every week, but that was due to her having 3 babies in there. Are you confident all this is necessary?

I'm at 27 weeks now and today I busted out my old friend, Snoogle. I'm doing well except for a bad, bad cold, and I'm hoping that will help me sleep.

In other news, I had a regular doctor appointment last week and the NP said that the specialist we're seeing for continued follow up wrote in the notes that I will be having extra u/s EVERY WEEK after 30 weeks. My regular OB also wants weekly non-stress tests for the last 4 or 6 weeks since I'm over 35 -- When am I going to work?? Anyway, it is what it is, but I clearly should have asked for more info when he recommended they be "more frequent". The first of the "more frequent" ones is this Friday, so I'll get everything nailed down then.

I just ordered a couple of used prenatal Pilates DVDs and I'm really excited! I wasn't successful at finding a local class, but I think this will fit my schedule better anyway.

Med, I was AMA with both babies (37, then 39) and it was standard protocol at my practice for AMA moms to have the NSTs every week after 34 weeks. I also had ultrasounds every other visit. With #1, I had absolutely no complications. With #2, I did have complications (a small placental abruption). That meant NSTs every 3-4 days, along with u/s, for the last 5 weeks. I was lucky that I could schedule them at good times for me. I often ate lunch or corrected papers while I was hooked up, so it wasn't a complete time drain.

Kar, I'm definitely going to check and double check everything to make sure it's not repetitive. The NST (non stress tests) do seem to be standard if you're over 35, same as Kiwi's doctor. You basically sit there hooked up to a monitor and they check the baby's heartrate rises and falls according to a mysterious pattern they look for. I can definitely try to work at the same time, so that's good!

In my case, the u/s is in response to the cystic hygroma complication. The problem is that they don't do that level of u/s at my doctor's office so I have to go to the hospital. It's not far, but I need to figure out if there is some way I can coordinate the NST and the u/s visits so that it doesn't become multiple appointments each week. I'll get it all sorted out when I see the specialist this week, I hope.

Hm, I was AMA for both of my pregnancies but the only time I had a non-stress test was the day I did not feel any movement with my first... I never heard of it being standard for AMA, so that is really practice based I guess. Since I did not feel him move all day one day, they hooked up u/s and heartrate monitor to look for movement and see how the heartbeat is for the NST. I found out during labor, when my OB stopped by to look at the heartbeat records, that what they look for is not just if it is too high or too low, but that there is a variation consistent with movement of a baby (i.e. peaks and valleys like our own heart rhythm). No change to the heartrate at all was a concern too.

ALS-I had a two vessel cord with DD, and got freaked out by all the low birth weight, premature, still birth risk. Things that were different for me, I had another u/s around 22 weeks, at that time they couldn't see the heart that well, so we were sent to Children's Hosptial to have a fetal echo. two vessel cords have an increase to have kidney or heart problems. all were ruled out for us.

after a certain point I started weekly nst, I talked them out of the 2x/week! DD was born via planned c-section (had a previous emergency c-section that didn't go well-so none of us wanted to chance that again). And DD was born with no complications weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz! (DS was born at 6 lbs 13 oz-so she was a tad bigger.)

If you have any questions let me know!

Kar-your friend basically had the NST with the weekly u/s-NST they hook you up to heart rate monitor and want to see acceleration/deceleration in the baby's heart rates. This can be seen on the u/s. FYI

Siena, ALS, congrats to team pink and wonderful news that your little princesses are healthy!!! I actually have my 18 week u/s coming up on Tuesday and am so excited to find out what we're having.

Medford, my OB told me up front I'll be going in for ultrasounds every week after 30 weeks (I think I start going every other week after 20 weeks). Guess its just standard with twin pregnancies since I'm 31 and not high risk otherwise. I know it will be a pain work wise but I'm actually looking forward to being able to get to see the babies so often. I've got that nasty cold too... so awful. Hope you feel better.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the 2 vessel cord KAM. I am trying not to be too worried about it and I'm hopeful that it will all be okay. My DD had a heart abnormality and also had some urinary problems (she was a premie, altough she had a 3 vessel cord). So because of her history, we are already having a fetal echo at Children's next week. Although in last week's ultrasound they did pay extra attention to this baby's heart and kidneys and they said all looked good at this point. So I'm hanging onto that at this point. We also had the MaterniT21 blood test at week 12 and ruled out other chromosomal or genetic issues, so that was a relief.

Medford - good luck with juggling and scheduling your extra ultrasounds and tests. I know it is complicated, but hopefully you can make the appointments as convenient as possible.

SSBride - keep us posted on how your ultrasound goes next week! Let us know if you are team pink or blue... or both! :)

It's weird how different practices can be. But yeah, the NST for 35+ moms is standard at my doctor's. And Kar, LOL, yeah, it's pretty boring! I would also guess it might be hard to position the monitors for three?? So maybe they always did them in conjunction with u/s.

ALS, thinking of you and the cord. Although it sounds like everything checked out well! I know it's still hard not to worry. I'll be thinking of you and the fetal echo. Not sure if you have had one before, but I had one recently. It was basically a long ultrasound, and kind of dull because you don't get to see much of the rest of the baby.

Lol, yeah, she had a LOT of u/s, and she had to drive 2 hours to Boston for them.

Watching Dr. Oz right now about BPA exposure and how it's found in cord blood. this chemical acts as synthetic estrogen in our bodies. it has been banned in baby bottles and sippy cups but nothihg else. If you eat a lot of canned food, beware, and be sure to not heat food in plastic containers that contain BPA. I'm usually very relaxed about such warnings, but this sounds serious to me.

Eden Organic has no BPA in their canned beans, I believe. And Trader Joe's has some of their canned goods with no BPA - if you e-mail them, they'll send you a list of what is in and what is out. Not sure if there are other brands as well that are on top of this issue.

Of course, I got the list from TJ's and then immediately lost it... oy. But, I definitely don't heat anything in plastic containers any more, period. I got some pyrex dishes with snap on lids to bring leftovers to work, and at home I transfer stuff to regular plates/bowls. It's a pain, but the way I figure it, it seems like the policy in this country is to use chemicals first and ask questions later. (I always assumed stuff would need to be proven safe *first* to go in our containers, couch cushions, et cetera, but apparently this is not the case.) So, I figure even if my containers are BPA free, there could be another replacement chemical in there that we don't know about yet. I'm not too crazy about it, but I give it the old college try.

Yeah, I buy Eden brand canned beans whenever they have the variety I am looking for. Does anyone know if there is a canned tomato brand that is BPA free? (I shop mostly at Whole Foods, so TJ brands might not help much.) I think the canned tomatoes and refried beans are the main canned staples that I'm not sure I'm buying BPA-free in. We consume both on a regular basis--especially the canned tomatoes in the winter. I really wish there was better labeling!

I've also switched to only microwaving in pyrex! It was easier to make the switch than I thought it would be. (I thought I'd hate the heaviness/bulk of the pyrex for bringing to work.)

ETA: Looks like the Muir Glenn brand tomatoes (which is most of what I buy) is BPA free these days.

Has anyone else seen a genetics councilor? I am 12 weeks and they found abnormalities in the ultrasound. We are seeing the councilor after another ultrasound. I am trying to be positive, but the wait is awful.

Frank, I did see the genetic councelor at my OB's office since I have a sister that's mentally delayed. She was tested for chromosomal issues and what not but that was 30 years ago and they found nothing. I found it amazing how knowledgeable she was and how far all the science has advanced. There were some steps we could have taken, but in the end we decided we couldn't terminate regardless and would just take our chances.

How long do you have to wait for your next ultrasound? I met with the councelor really early at about 10 weeks before there was any testing done so I'm surprised they are making you wait.

Frank0807 - when you meet with the geneticist they will go over a lot of options for additional testing. At 12 weeks you might be offered a blood test like the Materniti21 or a CVS (chorionic vili sampling) which is a more invasive procedure similar to amniocentesis, but it can be performed earlier, but it carries a risk of miscarriage. Depending on what sorts of abnormalities were detected, it could be a false positive, or it could be something minor, or it could be something so serious you lose the pregnancy. It is impossible to tell until they do more testing, and it is the worst thing in the world to wait for more information.

I'm so sorry you are going through this, you are in my prayers, if you have any further questions, you can private message me.

Frank, I'm really sorry to hear that. Especially the wait. That is the worst.

I just went through the same situation, with abnormalities at the 12 week ultrasound. We met with the genetic counselor, et cetera. We decided to do the CVS test, which hopefully the genetic counselor and/or maternal fetal medicine doctor will help you understand and weigh the risks. We didn't know what we would do based on the results, but I knew I had to know.

It's incredibly difficult, no matter what happens next. But I did do a lot of research on the odds and possible outcomes. There is a huge range. My thoughts are with you, and you can ask me any questions, here or on private message through here.

(SS, I think your meeting was early because it was based on history, not findings. We actually met with a [different] genetic counselor before even getting pregnant with DD due to family history, but that was a whole different ball of wax.)

Frank, just thinking of you. How was the second ultrasound and meeting with the counselor? Hoping you got some more questions answered and the meeting was helpful in establishing a game plan. You are in my thoughts.

SS - thanks for thinking of us. The original ultrasound tech got bad readings. The fluid levels were perfect when it was done at MGH. Our doctor handled the situation badly. I am working on finding a new doctor that I feel comfortable with.

I don't post often on these boards, but I like reading everyone's posts. You have answered so many of my questions with previous posts :)

Frank--I'm so glad you got a good reading this time! The ultrasound results can be sensitive, so having an experienced ultrasonographer (and OB to read them) can matter a lot. Good luck with finding a new doctor!